Archduke John

Frankfurt National Assembly (1848–1849) Monarchy and royalism 1782–1859 ○ Natural causes

Habsburg archduke and moderniser of Styria whom the Frankfurt Parliament elected Regent of the Empire in 1848

Born in Florence in 1782, a son of Grand Duke Leopold of Tuscany (later Emperor Leopold II), he was given command of the Austrian army at eighteen in 1800 and was beaten at Hohenlinden, and in 1809 he led the army of Inner Austria in Italy. Sidelined under Metternich, he became the great moderniser of Styria, founding the Joanneum in Graz, and his morganatic marriage to a postmaster's daughter made him popular. When the imperial court fled Vienna in 1848 he was named the emperor's deputy and opened the Diet. On 29 June 1848 the Frankfurt Parliament elected him Regent of the Empire at the head of the Provisional Central Power, but the member states denied it command of their armies and his office carried little power. He was allowed to resign only on 20 December 1849. He later served as mayor of Stainz and died in Graz in 1859.

Also known as: Archduke John of Austria · Archduke Johann of Austria · Erzherzog Johann